Isaiah 22:9
9 Ye have seen [ra'ah] also the
breaches [baqiya`] of the city [`iyr] of David [David], that they
are many [rabab]: and ye gathered together [qabats] the waters [mayim] of the
lower [tachtown] pool [barekah]. KJV-Interlinear
9 and you saw that the breaches of the
city of David were many. You collected the waters of the lower pool, ESV
Along the
ancient trail between Jericho and the Mediterranean Sea lies the city of
Jerusalem. People settled there after discovering the Gihon Spring in the
Kidron Valley. That spring has been a steady
source of water throughout the centuries, and will be a source of water in
those final days of history.
Beginning to the
west of the city of Jerusalem, and continuing through various connected tunnels
that were in place when David conquered the city, and later improved upon by
Hezekiah the spring connects two pools referred to as the upper pool and the
lower pool, located deep inside the inner portion of the city, known as the
City of David.
Here, the city
is pictured as being overly demolished, which would obviously result from
constant bombardment.
The city is in
two parts. The first part is the greater
city which is demolished, and the inner part known as the City of David.
So, we know that
when these events begin, the people or defenses of Jerusalem will move inward
from the outer edges of the city to the inner centermost portion of the city
and they will have access to the water that is underground and collects at the
lower pool.
What these
verses portray is a struggle of the city of Jerusalem, which by the way is
still standing, oddly enough.
The people are still
not turning to God for their defense, but to their own ingenuity, which will
actually be phenomenal for at least a while.
It is obvious
from the past several decades that the current day Israel, has had many
conflicts and has held themselves together in a remarkable way. But they are still anti-Jesus Christ for the
greater part of their beliefs.
This will
change.
But for the
moment the reliance on human ingenuity is still in the forefront of their
minds. This too will change as their own
ingenuity will crumble, and then and only then, will they turn to Christ.
Now, note one
important thing.
It is Satan’s objective
to destroy Jerusalem and thus prevent Christ from returning to Jerusalem to
deliver those Jews that are still there. That is one of Gods promises, and
Satans objective to prevent.
So, you might
ask, why doesn’t he just nuke the city?
And we note in
the prophecies that, that does not occur. So why doesn't it occur?
Well, the answer
might be simpler than you think.
Given the
disasters of the Tribulation and the huge death toll around the world, Satan will
have a tough time getting all the world to turn against Israel, first of
all. And second, there just might not be
anyone left alive that knows how to operate those nukes, or earthquakes could
have destroyed facilities, or any or all of the above and probably there are other
reasons that you can think of that would prevent their use.
Nevertheless,
the single city and objective of Satan’s destructive efforts, will elude him,
and that will infuriate him, and frustrate his plans.
But as we often
see in the movies when the city of being attacked, the defenses shrink from the
outer defense to an inner defense to another inner defense, until they are out
of options and nowhere else to go.
That is how the
spiritual life often winds up when people are stubborn and indifferent towards
God, Christ, and doctrine. Their life
dwindles and dwindles until they are out of options.
And then what?
Most get crushed
and destroyed, while a very few, wake up.
